Sunday, 12 April 2015

Maithri ready to show his true colours shortly

As
dissension with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) heightens, the
political stage is certainly set to go for a general election with the
possibility of the present Parliament being dissolved anytime after 23
April. The SLFP crisis has forced President Maithripala Sirisena to
think of the future of his presidential administration as a section of
the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) supporting his predecessor
Mahinda Rajapaksa seems to stifle the 100-day programme initiated by
him. Chances of getting the 19th Amendment passed in the House after 20
April looks remote as a section in the SLFP demands that electoral
reforms too should be passed simultaneously, if they are to extend their
support for the constitutional changes that prune the powers of the
President. Returning from Islamabad in Pakistan President Sirisena made
an announcement in Polonnaruwa that he would get the 19th Amendment
passed in Parliament and dissolve Parliament. However, he did not
specify the date he intends to dissolve Parliament. This announcement
stunned the SLFP which stands divided.

As
dissension with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) heightens, the
political stage is certainly set to go for a general election with the
possibility of the present Parliament being dissolved anytime after 23
April. The SLFP crisis has forced President Maithripala Sirisena to
think of the future of his presidential administration as a section of
the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) supporting his predecessor
Mahinda Rajapaksa seems to stifle the 100-day programme initiated by
him. Chances of getting the 19th Amendment passed in the House after 20
April looks remote as a section in the SLFP demands that electoral
reforms too should be passed simultaneously, if they are to extend their
support for the constitutional changes that prune the powers of the
President. Returning from Islamabad in Pakistan President Sirisena made
an announcement in Polonnaruwa that he would get the 19th Amendment
passed in Parliament and dissolve Parliament. However, he did not
specify the date he intends to dissolve Parliament. This announcement
stunned the SLFP which stands divided.
On his return to the
country, the President reportedly met Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. The trio had
one on one meets. A number of issues pertaining to the 19th Amendment
and the dissolution of Parliament had been discussed. The United
National Party (UNP) led by the Prime Minister has already begun party
activities to strengthen it to face the next general elections.
Wickremesinghe has instructed his organizers not to relax during the
festive season but to go the electorates to organize the party to face a
general election before mid July. Political sources did not rule out
the possibility of the President issuing a proclamation dissolving
Parliament on May 5. The President is aware that with the confusion
within his party and the UPFA, it is difficult for him to honour the
pledges given to the people during the presidential election campaign.
Meanwhile,
the Supreme Court determined that the 19th Amendment was consistent
with the Constitution and that, however, two clauses required a
referendum. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa informed Parliament of the Supreme
Court determination last week. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told
the House that the sections which required a referendum would be omitted
from the 19th Amendment to seek consensus in the House. Earlier,
speaking to heads of media organizations with regard to the 19th
Amendment, the Premier said the government will not proceed with
anything that would require a public referendum. He said the necessity
was to ensure smooth passage in Parliament for the constitutional
changes. The petitions over the 19th Amendment were taken up before a
three Judge Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice K. Sripavan and
Justices Chandra Ekanayake and Priyasath Dep. The Supreme Court
concluded the hearings last Monday and conveyed the determination to the
Speaker the same evening. Certain key powers vested with the Executive
President were to be amended according to the proposed constitutional
amendment, while the term of the President is due to be reduced from six
years to five. President Sirisena has already announced that he would
not seek a further term though he would be entitled to do so under the
present Constitution. Under the proposed 19th Amendment, powers vested
with the President to dissolve Parliament will be transferred to
Parliament, while the President's term will restricted to merely two
terms. The main constitutional proposals of the 19th Amendment include
the transformation of the Presidential form of government to a
Presidential-Parliamentary system of government and the re-introduction
of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.

Leader of the OppositionAdding
insult to injury in face of the current crisis within the SLFP, the
crisis over the post of Opposition Leader further deepened last week.
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa who called for time to study the process and
read Erskine May to resolve the crisis, put the ball back in the UPFA
court last week directing Susil Premajayantha to submit a name after
talking to the UPFA Opposition. Incumbent Opposition Leader, Nimal
Siripala de Silva took umbrage over the stand taken by the UPFA group
led by Dinesh Gunawardene against him as the Dinesh supporters signed a
petition with 52 names in support of Dinesh to request the Speaker to
recognize Dinesh as the Opposition Leader. Nimal Siripala described the
move as measure to backstab him. In the current scenario, the UPFA-SLFP
opposition looks to be in shambles as the UPFA has gained ground with
the defection of 26 SLFPers to the government, last month, to accept
ministerial portfolios. With the Speaker's to put the ball in
Premajayantha's court, it had embarrassed Premajayantha, a sober
politician who does not want to make enemies within his own opposition.
Therefore, it is likely that the issue may drag on till Parliament is
dissolved. If that happens, Nimal Siripala de Silva would be the
beneficiary from that crisis.

As the SLFP and the UPFA battles
with the crisis of the Opposition Leader, the Tamil National Alliance
(TNA) comprising Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) members claimed that
no MP elected from the UPFA or UNP could hold the position and the ITAK
was entitled to it, with the next highest number of elected
representatives in the House. On those lines, the ITAK, the main
constituent of the TNA, wrote to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to put on
record its position with regard to the Opposition Leader issue. "At the
conclusion of the General Election held in April 2010, the Commissioner
General of Elections informed Parliament that contestants from four
political parties were returned to Parliament and the current Parliament
therefore is constituted by members of four registered political
parties, namely, the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the United
National Party (UNP), the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) and the
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and no other," the letter said.
The
letter pointed out, "Therefore, the government today is composed of
both the UPFA and the UNP, disentitling both of those parties from
occupying the seat of the Leader of the Opposition. No Member of
Parliament elected from the UPFA or UNP can be the Leader of the
Opposition. This clearly is the legal position as well as one that
accords with parliamentary tradition, both of our country and the
Commonwealth," stated the letter signed by ITAK General Secretary K.
Thurairajasingham and Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan. "The
resultant position is that it is the ITAK that is entitled to the post
of the Leader of the Opposition, having 14 Members of Parliament," ITAK
stated adding, the DNA has seven members, one of whom is a Cabinet
Minister at present.

Finance Bill crisis

The government's
move to seek Rs 400 billion from Parliament to pay State sector wages
met with defeat in Parliament last week. Finance Minister Ravi
Karunanayake moving the Bill stressed the need to meet the sum as an
urgent need. However, at the time of voting only 31 members in the
government was present in the House thus facing a defeat as the
opposition had 52 present. Later, SLFP General Secretary Anura
PriyadarshanaYapa, appointed to that capacity by President Sirisena
though seating in the opposition ranks claimed they defeated resolution
to raise the Treasury Bills threshold because the Finance Minister Ravi
Karunanayake, had informed Parliament that they had enough funds to pay
salaries and it contradicted the government's earlier reason for the
need of a bond issue. Yapa questioned the government's need to raise the
Treasury Bills if it had enough funds and said the government had acted
in disregarding the cooperation of the opposition during the debate on
the Bill. He lamented that neither the Finance Minister nor the Prime
Minister were present in the Parliament during the voting on the Bill.
He explained that when the government noted that the Bill was to pay the
salaries of State employees, the opposition had agreed to support it.
"Instead of getting our support, the Finance Minister lashed out at the
opposition during the entire debate. How can the government expect us to
vote in favour of the Bill after such attacks on us," he asked. Yapa
said the SLFP members were not prepared to raise their hands in
agreement to each and every regulation forwarded by the United National
Party (UNP) though the necessity could be urgent in nature.

SLFP
Senior Vice President and Chief Opposition Whip, W.D.J. Seneviratne
said the resolution was defeated to condemn the approach adopted by the
government to gain the support of the opposition. "If they need our
support we should be approached in a cordial manner", he pointed
out.Commenting on the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, Seneviratne
opined that the fundamental rights of the people would be violated if
the Amendment was presented in Parliament without giving room for the
people to study it and added that when a Constitution was being changed,
public opinion was mandatory. Seneviratne reiterated that the SLFP
would not support the 19th Amendment if the electoral reforms were not
brought together with it. Hence, the stand taken by the SLFP Opposition
has plunged the future of the 19th Amendment into a further crisis as
the UNP-oriented government wants a general election to be called
shortly under the existing PR system.

UNP view

Leader of
the House and Plantation Industries Minister, Lakshman Kiriella
described the voting on the increase on the Treasury Bills' threshold as
a clear split among members of the SLFP and UPFA opposition. Addressing
the media in Colombo to counter the SLFP opposition towards the Finance
Bill, Kiriella said, "We understood this situation in the opposition
and it is clear that the opposition is divided on every issue", Kiriella
noted. He stressed that every member in the opposition had assured the
government they would support the government to secure the objectives of
its 100-day programme. The minister was of the opinion that Opposition
Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva, said the opposition would support the
government to get the resolution approved but lamented that several
members of the same opposition later decided to vote against it."We
don't know whether the decision was taken after discussions between two
groups or it happened as a result of a rift that exists in the
opposition. But it is totally contradictory to parliamentary traditions
and norms," he added.

UN backs 100-day project

As confusion
reigns with many conflicts within the opposition and also the
opposition with the government, the United Nations system and the UNDP
looks satisfied to continue to provide support to the 100-day programme,
at the request of the government. This was disclosed by UN Assistant
Secretary-General and UNDP's Asia-Pacific Regional Director Haoliang Xu
when he met Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday
(9). During discussions Xu thanked the Colombo Government for their
continued support to the work of the UN Country Team in Sri Lanka. Xu
congratulated Sri Lanka on marking this year which is the 60th
anniversary since it became a Member State of the UN, coinciding with
the 70th year since the UN was founded and acknowledged the partnership
with the ministry in launching the 70/60 campaign. During the visit to
Colombo, a second visit to the island, Xu has met and exchanged views
with high-level government officials, development partners and the civil
society on learning more about the emerging development needs and
expectations of Sri Lanka in a new political environment whilst
ascertaining the future direction of UNDP support along with other
members of the UN family, strengthening UNDP's role as a key development
partner in Sri Lanka. The UN Assistant Secretary General Haoliang Xu
travelled to Mullaitivu to assess the support extended by UN Development
Programme (UNDP) to the community and handed over a rice mill to the
Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS) Panankamam, a producer
organization supported by UNDP Sri Lanka under a Norway and New
Zealand-funded northern livelihood development project. What is
interesting is that Xu's arrival here comes ahead of a visit by the UN
Working Group for Enforced Disappearances and a visit by the team of the
OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL).

In the face of the
deepening crisis in the SLFP, President Sirisena met a group of SLFP
Ministers following his return from Pakistan. Issue after issue surfaced
at that meeting. The first issue was that former President Chandrika
Kumaratunga's office had extended the invitation to meet Sirisena. The
invitation stated that a meeting would be held with the President prior
to the Cabinet meeting. These ministers refused to go to Temple Trees
and decided to meet the Head of State at the Presidential Secretariat.
When they arrived at the location, the Cabinet meeting was in progress.
The President who was the first to leave the Cabinet room asked those
present, "Are you here to meet me?" "Sir, it was you who had asked us to
meet you", they responded. Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga explained to the
President that Chandrika was scheduled to meet them but they had
arrived at the Secretariat to meet the President. "Ok, let us start the
meeting", the President said. The debate in Parliament on the proposed
19th Amendment Draft to be taken up on 20 April was taken up for
discussion. "I have made a pledge to the people that my powers would be
reduced and it is mandatory that we honour that pledge. I will monitor
the conduct in Parliament on that day and decide on dissolving
Parliament", the President said.

Minister Dilan Perera
interjected to opine, "An election at this juncture will not be
beneficial to the SLFP. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa will try to
capitalize on this crisis situation. An election at this juncture will
only meet the needs of Mahinda and Ranil. The government has labelled
most of us as rogues. Even I am labelled as a rogue. I will take legal
action in that regard. I advise not to go for an election at this
juncture". Several SLFPers also warned the President of future threats
that may surface on him. They said even an impeachment motion could be
brought against the President. "If an election is held and if Mahinda is
not given nominations, he (Mahinda) would contest under a separate
party and get at least 35 MPs elected. Ranil will also get at least 80
MPs. If that happens, Ranil and Mahinda will join to impeach you", they
warned. The President kept mum on that observation. Vijith Vijithamuni
Soysa said if Maithri does not strengthen and stabilize the SLFP,
Mahinda would try to capture it. "If we are to hold an election, we must
strengthen the party. If an election is held tomorrow and if the people
feel the swing is towards Mahinda all will go. Then I will also have to
return to Mahinda. After you took over the leadership, we joined to
strengthen your hands. We also need security and cannot be destitute".

SLFP
firebrand M.K.A.D.S. Gunawardene joined the fray to attack the corrupt
politicians in the previous government. He urged the President to punish
them irrespective of their status. Having given a patient hearing to
all members the President replied, "The Supreme Court has conveyed its
ruling to prune the powers of the Executive President. I was elected by
the people. I must transfer certain powers. I must also say this. Many
think I am weak and I do not know to administer and that Ranil is
running the government. My style is different. At the right time I will
show who Maithripala is". After the President's observation, Opposition
Leader Nimal Siripala complained that Mahinda Rajapaksa was behind the
move to oust him as Opposition Leader. "Sir, I have evidence to prove
it", he added and requested the President to speak to the Speaker.

Mahinda to UPFA fore

While
Maithri runs a confused SLFP, his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa had
embarked on a new mission to capture the majority in the SLFP Central
Committee. Already nearly 60 MPs in the SLFP have pledged their support
to Mahinda and are working hand in hand with him. Hence, Mahinda plans
to take control of the Central Committee and the SLFP using these 60
MPs. Several Central Committee members who are not MPs too have pledged
their support to the former President, reliable sources revealed.
However, Mahinda faces a practical problem of getting nominations from
the SLFP as he is keen to re-enter politics through his former party. If
he is not given nominations, Mahinda plans to contest under a party
affiliated to the SLFP. Sources said he would most likely contest from
the UPFA, which defeated the 17-year UNP administration in 1994.
Meanwhile, Mahinda's sibling Gotabhaya too has expressed willingness to
enter politics. If Gotabhaya fails to get SLFP nomination, he too is
likely to contest from the UPFA. All indications are that the
Rajapaksas' are ready to come back in a big way despite efforts to
throttle their re-entry into politics.

The SLFP will hold its
May Day rally this year at Hyde Park. Former Minister and SLFP General
Secretary, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa last week extended an invitation to
the former President when the latter visited the Abhayaramaya Temple in
Narahenpita. It was not clear whether Mahinda accepted that invitation.
The leftist parties too, have organized a rally at Kirulapone on May Day
and Chandrika too, had been already invited to make her presence on
that stage. The Kirulapone rally had been planned by D.E.W.
Gunasekere,Vasudeva and Tissa Vitarana three weeks ago. However, Dinesh
wants Wimal to instruct the trio to gather all trade unions as Western
Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga was extending fullest support
to make it a success. All indications are that Mahinda would board the
Kirulapone platform being a veteran trade union leader.

Chandrika booed

In
a bid to strengthen the SLFP at grass roots level, a district meeting
of the party was held last week at Kurunegala following the return of
the President from Pakistan. All ministers, MPs in the district and the
former President Chandrika Kumaratunga too, were present at this
meeting. As Chandrika walked to light the traditional oil lamp, a
section of the gathering started to hoot. Organizers were able to calm
the situation. Fearing further reprisals, the organizers decided to
cancel the address of Chandrika in the agenda. The meeting turned
dramatic as Chief Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara proposed the vote of
thanks mentioning the name of former President Rajapaksa recalling the
good work done by the former President Mahinda's name was received with a
loud applause. When Chandrika was leaving the venue, the situation
became tensed and her security was forced to escort her. Thereafter, two
factions at the meeting were engaged in fisticuffs and the police
brought the situation under control.

Champika's mudslinging

The
Police last Tuesday issued a media release alleging that DNA
Parliamentarian, Tiran Alles was reportedly involved in a scandal over
finances of a Tsunami institution called RADA and that the MP's passport
had been impounded. Alles immediately summoned a media conference and
refuted the charges noting that the police had never questioned him
regarding the allegations made in the police media release. He told the
media that a prominent minister was behind the move to sling mud at him
and assured he would name him shortly. He said the government politician
in question had committed several misdeeds and that Alles had evidence
to prove them.

The complaint had been lodged by an
organization called Dushana Virodhi Peramuna. Alles subsequently made a
statement to the police last Thursday accompanied by Attorney-at-Law and
Pivituru Hela Urumaya Leader, Udaya Gammanpila and met the media
outside the CID office.

He directly accused Minister Champika
Ranawaka of being behind the move to tarnish his image. Alles said
Ranawaka was attacking him thinking that he (Alles) was responsible for
the exit of Udaya from the JHU. The MP stated though Ranawaka had
pledged to teach him a lesson, Champika